A 34-year-old female pitcher has broken through baseball’s gender barrier by signing with an independent men’s league team, becoming the first woman to play Canadian pro baseball.
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I think I'm gonna go look at this story on Twitter so I can see how absolutely buttblasted the usual suspects are about an actual real woman daring to encroach on their sacred spaces.
Figured this was just a matter of time. I do believe we'll see a female kicker in the NFL eventually, but baseball is going to be where that barrier in pro sports goes down first.
A woman has already been in MLB. She struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gherig. But then she was blacklisted, and women were barred from trying out again
I enjoyed watching her pitch. It was pretty darn cool watching a 20 yr old female striking guys out. Some future major leaguers passed through the league. Marco Gonzales comes to mind.
Maybe Ila wasn’t considered a pro. She was playing college baseball in the US. In Canada, she didn’t sign a contract as such so it was more a summer job.
Oops. Ila Borders pitched professionally in Canada in 1995 for a team named the Swift Current Indians. Left-hander. No velocity but was learning how to throw a screwball.
Women can’t hurt men in sports. She’s 34 even for men that’s the tail end of their career.
If she gets a call up she will have to throw min of 90 and spot the ball on the black and have a nasty off speed. Anything other than that is a stunt
Unfortunately, with the incoming administration, it’s now unclear whether American women will be able to even attend games without their husband’s permission.
If they can prove they voted for Trump no problem. Otherwise, relegated to the kitchen so that hubby’s dinner ready when he comes home. Oh, and have the beer ready. Almost forgot. Wrote this sarcastically but just heard from Vance. He sees nothing wrong with it.
Do you believe the reason more women aren’t playing in men’s sports leagues is due to a gender barrier? Or could it simply be the physical differences, such as the average NFL player being 6’2” and 244 lbs compared to the average woman at 5’4” and 170 lbs?
Pro baseball in Canada is not as weird as you think. Babe Ruth hit his first pro home run on the Toronto Islands, the Jays have two World Series titles, and players like Larry Walker and Joey Votto are MLB icons. And don’t forget about Vladdy!
I was just being snarky. I'm half Canadian myself. Canada is just not one of the first countries that come to mind when that sport is mentioned. Hockey, absolutely! Curling, sure! Lacrosse, bien sur! But baseball . . . ???
That is great!
I know women play professional ball, but usually not against men. It's been a long time coming. Just throw it where they can't hit it...worked for Greg Maddux. Didn't have blazing speed, just pinpoint control. Struck out a lot of batters by "accident".
Nope, this wrong. Women do not belong in men’s sports and men do not belong in women’s sports at any level. Not saying they don’t have the ability in some cases just saying.
I coulda been a contender had I been born 40-50 yrs. later! Little Leage though! Ultimately glad I wasn't! Wellington LL in OR had a meeting to include me in 1959... voted down! I used to practice with the teams sometimes! Great at throwing/fielding but probably would have tanked as a batter!
Gendered divisions in sports are so silly to me...there should just be brackets based on ability plus body size, muscle mass, muscle twitch speed, etc-like they do in the parolympics, to make divisions fair.
What a dumb take. So the divisions will be men and women again. Must not be an athlete. The top female athlete wouldn't be able to compete with in the top 1000 of any men's division.
Totally. With the frequency of things like this happening, having separation based on gender in sports at all is pointless. Get rid of the LPGA, WNBA, etc, and just have women compete in the PGA and NBA. It’s time to finally remove these barriers for all
No, it's time to have more divisions that let everyone with ability compete, for example, including short basketball players, like featherweight boxers. You can still have divisions based on muscle mass to body size ratio if you want leagues structured the way you think gender seperates body type.
Short people play basketball all the time. They are definitely allowed to do so. Are you saying there should be professional leagues for short basketball players? Are you aware of what’s required for someone to be considered a professional and earn money playing a sport?
The article you posted was a woman playing in the professional league, no? Is that not evidence that woman can in fact play in the league with all the money?
The whole men in women's sports panic is esp ridiculous since trans women on testosterone blockers have even weaker muscles than most cis women....and is there panic about women in men's leagues?
Im pro trans people but there are differences and advantages to both sexes. I'm happy for this girl but men do have unfair advantages other than T but it's the only indicator measured to allow them in gender specific leagues and that's not enough
It's more than T though. Biological men avg greater lung capacity, heart valve sizes, taller, less body fat, limp lengths, reaction times.... at a basic take running. Longer legs so longer stride, bigger hamstrings, so move quicker, bigger feet for greater ground contact and quicker turnover
So what then, do you identify as a man, a woman, or as an open?
If you want to divide and use physical attribute brackets as a measure, then let's divide properly. Divide based on physical attributes, not on biological sex or arbitrary gender.
So that's what the divisions should be based on after ability. Gender is so much more arbitrary and not as discrete as muscle mass to body size ratio divisions.
Instead there's CELEBRATION for ability and achievement, which tells me women's leagues are already a junior league to men's junior leagues. In this way, women's leagues can function as an insulting patronization imo, not some special sacred protected category of competition.
Do I think title 9 was necessary to let girls participate in sport in school? Sure, but its entire intent was to prevent the exclusion of student participation that doesn't conform to society's stereotypes about athleticism....not to create another category that still excludes sports participation.
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You get a 3 step drop not 10
If she gets a call up she will have to throw min of 90 and spot the ball on the black and have a nasty off speed. Anything other than that is a stunt
Unfortunately, with the incoming administration, it’s now unclear whether American women will be able to even attend games without their husband’s permission.
https://www.muscleandfitness.com/women/galleries/10-strongest-women-all-time/
Learning new things every days.
Fuck the gender issues.
Ball out young lady.
What's next, Brazilian ice hockey?
MAGA Chess Team?
MAGA = Moron
I know women play professional ball, but usually not against men. It's been a long time coming. Just throw it where they can't hit it...worked for Greg Maddux. Didn't have blazing speed, just pinpoint control. Struck out a lot of batters by "accident".
If you want to divide and use physical attribute brackets as a measure, then let's divide properly. Divide based on physical attributes, not on biological sex or arbitrary gender.